Does anyone else itch all night with a feeling that something is crawling on you. I know its in my head but I can't sleep b/c of it. I washed my sheets again yesterday hoping my mind would stop playin tricks on me, but unfortunatly it didnt help. Anyone else have this problem?

You may want to check out a problem called RLS (restless leg syndrome) I have a minor case of it but it has decreased in severity with the gluten-free diet.... go figure! At night my issues have decreased manyfold, now I just have the daylight problems, but on the bright side my almost contant movement of my legs and feet give me awesome looking legs, lol I believe they have pills for this now, but I dislike meds of any kind, herbs etc are more my style

I believe it is caused by food intolerances. I used to get that awful crawly feeling all the time. It decreased on a gluten-free diet, but went away completely when I discovered my other intolerances and eliminated those foods.

Interesting as I recently have been led to think I may have soy issues as well, will see what happens with the food diary for that for now however.

You might google the word "formication" to see if that describes what you're feeling. And note the "m" in the spelling - I'd hate for you to accidentally google "fornication," LOL. Formication can be neurological in origin.

I agree that food intolerance is one possible cause. Like Ursa, I also used to have RLS - but it has gone away on a gluten-free diet. I still get twitchy when I get glutened, but I get a lot of other neuro symptoms when glutened, too (also like Ursa). I also have a couple of other intolerances that showed up when I went gluten free.

I recently found out that my Celiac son (age 7) is deficient in vitamin E, a fat-soluble vitamin. Vitamin E deficiency is rare in humans but can occur along with malabsorbtion - and it CAN cause neuro problems.

If you had malabsorption problems and you have a good, sympathetic doctor, you might ask him to test you for deficiencies in the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K. Especially if you have only been gluten-free for a short time.

Good luck! - April

Hey! Feeling like bed bugs are in the bed? Somebody else has my weird symptom!

I washed those sheets like crazy. Everything down to the mattress pad, pillows, and comforter every day or two, plus everything I wore, sat on, or could fit into the washer. And if I couldn't, I sprayed it with Lysol.

It's really strange out of a family of 7 I'm the only one who ever noticed it.

To help you sleep, this works wonders: one 250mg tablet of Magnesium. Most people with either Type A blood type or with nutritional/mineral deficiencies lack Magnesium. It's also a natural muscle relaxer.

Whenever I feel restless or unable to sleep it works like a charm.

Also, if you're having trouble with this, chances are you also have trouble with constipation. Lack of Magnesium may be the culprit there as well. No matter how much water I drank, it never had the same effect as 1 tablet of Mg did.

Having celiac damages your ability to absorb minerals, so it would make sense to replace it.

The "bed bug" feeling, or in my case I thought it was mites appeared almost 10 years ago. (Age 26-36) Every time I got pregnant I threw up things with a lot of gluten in it, so I learned to avoid those foods. But every time after the baby was born it came back and I could never figure it out.

I've only been gluten free for 3 weeks! I'm still getting the prickly, itchy feeling occasionally, though only once or twice since I quit.

How long has it kept happening for you after you went gluten-free? I'd like to get an idea of when it will stop. I am just glad to quit washing so much extra stuff.

Take care,
Heather

I'm not trying to freak you out or anything, but are you sure its NOT bed bugs? I just watched a really interesting news piece on bed bugs and their return. It was so gross. The worst part was that they are SO hard to find and most people never know they have an infestation. Perhaps google it. I'm not saying its not food related, I just wanted to bring this up.

I don't have the "bed-bug" feeling, but often I can't keep my legs still and had difficulty sleeping. I shook my leg all night. My doctor suggested that I take a benadryl at night. It has helped me sleep and no more fluttering feet to keep my buddy awake.

With me it is tiny pin prick feelings ever now and then, feels like a pin stabbing me. I think it might be a b vitamin deficiency.

Hi, Nancy I agree about the B vitamin deficiency here to cure RL and bed bug feelings. I have had this problem big time. It finally has gone away unless I am glutened or get exposed to some chemical I can't handle.

What resolved the increasing leg and feet burning and twitching as well as pins and needls (even though I already was on a gluten and sugar free diet), has been taking Country Life co-enzyme B vitamins.

They are best taken on an empty stomach, away from food. I usually take it at night and sometimes first thing in the morning often with L-glutamine and bromelain/papain (these last two items to help heal the lining of the gut). The Country LIfe co-enzyme B's are cheaper than the sublinguals that usually have sorbitol (which can actually contain gluten!). The B's by the way help one make proper use of carbs and are essential for nervous system health etc.

For me the co-enzyme B's have been a major life change since they also stopped my racing heart at night, help me sleep without RL and amazingly I now no longer get flu or colds etc., etc. in spite of my getting quite ill regularly since infancy!!

I agree though that magnesium is also essential for this condition to go away. B's, mag, D, K are all important for celiacs. Try reading DANGEROUS GRAINS and you will see what I mean.

Apart from that I also have had various scar tissue from past accidents and find doing yoga and stretching fairly regulary really helps calm down the nervous system as well as the muscles and the mind.
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OK I am adding this rest, which maybe should be in another post, on Bed Bugs and Chiggers:

If you find you actually have bed bugs we had an episode last year of either bed bugs or chiggers in my mothers house. We weren't sure if it was one or the other, it might have been both for all that since we live in the woods and the cats all had chiggers and also had signs of bed bugs. Its important to wash and bag everything tight. Its really awful actually. It took me two months of work to clean and bag everything since my mother and brother with downs are both such pack rats!

Of course I sprayed what I could with pyrethrins since arachnid family critters (which both pests are) are not killed by standard pesticides. They will also die however from things scratching their exoskeleton like borax.

I found using a mixture of 1 cup borax with 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (white vinegar is made from gluten!) and 1 tablespoon non gluten liquid soap will kill the bed bugs. Use it in an extractor as well as on surfaces and in your wash as well as on any pets you might have. You can also spray rubbing alcohol (use a spray bottle) on surfaces like you couch or mattress--it kills the eggs on contact.

I found wrapping mattresses in plastic and sealing them with duct tape effective. You can also put borax straight on your carpet and leave it there before vacuuming it up a couple of weeks later. Its suggested you can put carpet tape around your bed posts with the sticky side out to capture the bed bugs and don't let the linen touch the floor.

I found that whatever it was, I didn't get it strangely enough although I was the major cleaner--even of the old hairy dog not to mention the drapes. I took the co-enzyme B's, plus was also (and still am) taking raw chopped garlic in my veggies each day. Seems to help keep the critters away!
-----Yolo